Every level in JellySplit can be three-starred. We’ve proved it, for all 168 campaign puzzles and every daily. That doesn’t mean it’s easy — most levels are designed so the three-star line is the one move you almost didn’t try.
What three stars means
You earn a star for hitting the target score. You earn a second star if you had a swap left over when you got there. You earn a third star if you had two swaps left over. That’s the whole rule — score on budget for one, score under budget for more.
So three stars is a statement about efficiency. Not just did you solve it, but did you find the shortest line. Every swap you waste costs you a star.
Why we can promise it
Before a level ships, a solver searches its full game tree and records the optimal next move for every reachable state. If that search can’t reach the target score with at least two swaps to spare, the level doesn’t ship. It goes back to design.
And because the hint system reads from those precomputed tables, following hints from the opening position is a guaranteed three-star run. A CI test simulates exactly that for every puzzle in the game — 1,532 of them — on every build. If a level drifts out of three-star reach, the build breaks.
There’s no luck to audit and no cascade to re-roll. The guarantee is a property of the puzzle, not a property of your session.
Why it’s still hard
The swap budget is tuned on purpose. It’s set so that the obvious line — the big cluster forming in the middle, the tempting diagonal match — lands you one or two swaps over budget. Two stars, not three. You solved the puzzle, but you solved the wrong one.
The three-star line usually asks you to do something that looks wrong for a turn. Break a cluster to seed a bigger one. Move a jelly away from its neighbors so a later swap lands them together. The best puzzles are the ones where the correct first move looks like a mistake until the board resolves two swaps later.
How to hunt for it
- Read the target before you touch the board. Know how much score you need and how many swaps you have. Three stars means spending two fewer than the budget.
- Look at the end, not the start. What shape would make the target score? A tight ring, a connected core, two clusters merging — work backwards from there.
- Distrust the obvious swap. If one move looks clearly best, it’s often the two-star trap. Check whether a quieter move sets up a bigger finish.
- Use undo without guilt. Undo doesn’t cost you a star. Try a line, see where it lands, roll it back, try another. The level isn’t going anywhere.
- Save hints for when you’re stuck. A hint is always a three-star move from the current position. If you’ve already burned a swap on the wrong line, restart the level before you spend the hint — otherwise you’re paying for a two-star rescue.
Three stars is always on the table. The puzzle was built to allow it and the build won’t ship without proof. What’s on you is finding the line — and that’s the part we want to be hard.